Can't find printer on network

Presently, Vista is the only system that can't find my printer on the
network. All my other OS is Windows XP. Have a Linksys router with a Canon
printer. Why can it not find my printer on the newtwork?? HELP PLEASE

Re: Can't find printer on network

5hulses wrote:

> Presently, Vista is the only system that can't find my printer on the
> network. All my other OS is Windows XP. Have a Linksys router with a
> Canon
> printer. Why can it not find my printer on the newtwork?? HELP PLEASE

Unfortunately, you forgot to tell us what you've already tried. Have you
already set up the networking for Vista? Since I don't know, here is the
full general network troubleshooting boilerplate:

Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may look
daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions below
systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting up your
sharing.

Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as files
and folders:

For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused
by 1) a misconfigured firewall; or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls
such as the built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or 3)
not having identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup machines;
4) trying to create shares where the operating system does not permit it.

For XP and Windows 2003 Server, MVP Hans-Georg Michna has an excellent small
network troubleshooter. It may also be useful with Vista.

A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN)
traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing File/Printer
Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network Setup Wizard on
XP will take care of this for those machines.The only "gotcha" is that this
will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a
third-party firewall or have an antivirus with "Internet Worm
Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a firewall, then you're
fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually configure the LAN allowance
with an IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you
would substitute your correct subnet. Do not run more than one firewall.

B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match on all machines. If you wish a machine to boot
directly to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for
convenience, you can do this. The instructions at this link work for both
XP and Vista:

1. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

2. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the Simple
File Sharing enabled. Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is
enabled. This means that anyone without a user account on the target system
can use its resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if
it matters in your situation.

E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users' home
directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share folders
inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared
Documents folder. See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.

F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by exchanging a
file between all machines), if you want to share a printer connected
locally to one of your computers, share it out from that machine. Then go
to the printer mftr.'s website and download the latest drivers for the
correct operating system(s). Install them on the target machine(s). The
printer should be seen during the installation routine. If it is not,
install the drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard.

Re: Can't find printer on network

Still doesn't work!

This is why I still have windows XP-I am a Vista hater!

"Malke" wrote:

> 5hulses wrote:
>

> > Presently, Vista is the only system that can't find my printer on the
> > network. All my other OS is Windows XP. Have a Linksys router with a
> > Canon
> > printer. Why can it not find my printer on the newtwork?? HELP PLEASE

>
> Unfortunately, you forgot to tell us what you've already tried. Have you
> already set up the networking for Vista? Since I don't know, here is the
> full general network troubleshooting boilerplate:
>
> Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
> applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may look
> daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions below
> systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting up your
> sharing.
>
> Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
> Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as files
> and folders:
>
> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb727037.aspx
>
> For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
> caveat in Item A below).
>
> Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused
> by 1) a misconfigured firewall; or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls
> such as the built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or 3)
> not having identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup machines;
> 4) trying to create shares where the operating system does not permit it.
>
> For XP and Windows 2003 Server, MVP Hans-Georg Michna has an excellent small
> network troubleshooter. It may also be useful with Vista.
>
> http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm
>
> Here are some general networking tips for home/small networks:
>
> A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN)
> traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing File/Printer
> Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network Setup Wizard on
> XP will take care of this for those machines.The only "gotcha" is that this
> will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a
> third-party firewall or have an antivirus with "Internet Worm
> Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a firewall, then you're
> fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually configure the LAN allowance
> with an IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you
> would substitute your correct subnet. Do not run more than one firewall.
>
> B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
> is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.
>
> C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
> need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
> assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
> need to exist and match on all machines. If you wish a machine to boot
> directly to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for
> convenience, you can do this. The instructions at this link work for both
> XP and Vista:
>
> Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
> http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm
>
> D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:
>
> 1. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
> Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
> accounts/passwords on all computers.
>
> 2. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the Simple
> File Sharing enabled. Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is
> enabled. This means that anyone without a user account on the target system
> can use its resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if
> it matters in your situation.
>
> E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users' home
> directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share folders
> inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared
> Documents folder. See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.
>
> F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by exchanging a
> file between all machines), if you want to share a printer connected
> locally to one of your computers, share it out from that machine. Then go
> to the printer mftr.'s website and download the latest drivers for the
> correct operating system(s). Install them on the target machine(s). The
> printer should be seen during the installation routine. If it is not,
> install the drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> Don't Panic!
>

Re: Can't find printer on network

5hulses wrote:

> Still doesn't work!

And you still won't tell me what you've tried so I can't help you. If you
don't like Vista, don't use it. There are plenty of alternatives.

If you must get your Vista machine on the network, have a local professional
come on-site and set you up properly. It will normally take 5-10 minutes to
set up sharing on a Local Area Network with a few computers, not counting
the amount of time necessary to install printer software. So if you can't
get this going, get outside help.

Best of luck to you but I'm out of here. I have no interest in spending a
lot of time trying to pull the necessary details out of you over the course
of a long thread.

Re: Can't find printer on network

"Malke" <malke@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%2301%23QvFbIHA.5208@xxxxxx

> 5hulses wrote:
>

>> Still doesn't work!

>
> And you still won't tell me what you've tried so I can't help you. If you
> don't like Vista, don't use it. There are plenty of alternatives.
>
> If you must get your Vista machine on the network, have a local
> professional
> come on-site and set you up properly. It will normally take 5-10 minutes
> to
> set up sharing on a Local Area Network with a few computers, not counting
> the amount of time necessary to install printer software. So if you can't
> get this going, get outside help.
>
> Best of luck to you but I'm out of here. I have no interest in spending a
> lot of time trying to pull the necessary details out of you over the
> course
> of a long thread.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> Don't Panic!

If the Canon printer was networkable, did you load any special printer
software on the XP machines in order to see it from each of these machines?
What happens when you shut ALL the XP machines OFF? Can you see the printer
then?
Do any of the XP machines have printer sharing ON for this printer? If so,
try shutting it off. Make sure they are ALL OFF.
No Windows 2000 machines on the network...right?
Bob F.